5.  The applicant was born in 1961 and lives in Dnipropetrovsk.
6.  On 3 July 2002 the applicant manoeuvred his car negligently in the street and crashed into another car which was being driven by a Ms Kh. As a result of the incident, Ms Kh. sustained concussion and injuries of medium severity.
7.  Following the incident, the applicant was charged with the crime, set out in Article 286 § 1 of the Criminal Code, of breaching traffic rules resulting in injuries of medium severity to the victim. As a preventive measure, the applicant signed a written undertaking not to abscond.
8.  On 5 June 2003 the Dnipropetrovskyy District Court (“the District Court”), taking note of the fact that the applicant had failed to appear at the hearing of his case, scheduled for that day, replaced the written undertaking by the applicant for his detention in custody.
9.  Between 19 and 23 June 2003, the applicant was undergoing medical treatment in Dnipropetrovsk no. 7 City Hospital. According to the applicant, he was visited there by police officers who handcuffed him and guarded him until the end of the medical treatment. The officers allegedly did not allow him to use the toilet and prevented him from seeing his relatives and friends. The applicant did not complain to the investigating authorities on account of the conduct of the police officers.
10.  On 23 June 2003 the applicant was arrested and placed in a cell at the Dnipropetrovsk District Police Department.
11.  On 25 June 2003 the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Court of Appeal (the “Court of Appeal”) rejected the applicant's appeal against the decision of 5 June 2003 of the District Court, stating that, under domestic law, the decision was not subject to appeal.
12.  On 27 June 2003 the applicant was transferred to the Dnipropetrovsk no. 3 Pre-Trial Detention Centre (“the Dnipropetrovsk SIZO”).
13.  On 3 July 2003 the District Court found the applicant guilty of a crime under Article 286 § 1 of the Criminal Code and sentenced him to two years' “restriction of liberty” and a one-year driving ban. It further stated that the sentence should be calculated from 23 June 2003 and maintained the preventive measure (detention in custody) in respect of the applicant.
14.  On 14 and 15 July 2003 the applicant complained to the President of the Court of Appeal and the President of the Supreme Court, alleging that his detention in custody had been unlawful. The complaints were unsuccessful.
15.  On 21 July 2003 the applicant appealed against the judgment of 3 July 2003, alleging specifically that his detention had been unlawful since, first, under the provisions of Article 155 of the Code of Criminal Procedure the crime he was charged with did not entail the possibility of pre-trial detention, and, secondly, Article 342 of the same Code provided that he should have been released immediately after the court hearing of 3 July 2003.
16.  On 6 October 2003 the Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant's appeal as unfounded and upheld the judgment of 3 July 2003, which then came into effect. The Court of Appeal ordered that the period of the applicant's detention in custody should be reckoned as a part of the applicant's sentence.
17.  On 19 December 2003 the applicant was released from the Dnipropetrovsk SIZO, and moved to no. 133 Correctional Centre to serve his sentence.
18.  On an unspecified date the applicant lodged a cassation appeal against the judgment of 3 July 2003, contending, in particular, that his detention in custody had been contrary to Articles 155 and 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Article 107 of the Correctional Labour Code.
19.  On 23 December 2004 the Supreme Court dismissed the applicant's cassation appeal as unfounded. It noted, inter alia, that the period of the applicant's detention in custody had been reckoned as a part of his sentence and therefore the procedural shortcomings complained of, namely, the application of the preventive measure of detention did not necessitate the quashing of the judgments of the lower courts.